Ship structure and control means therefor



1965 J. o. DEAL, JR., ETAL 3,223,368

SHIP STRUCTURE AND CONTROL MEANS THEREFOR Original Filed Dec. 24, 1963fFxcml f: a u INVENTORS JOSEPH D. DEQL,JF., BUCHOLQS E ORESKO r-Jouu L.STEVENS,Jr. BYWJ m ilO ATTORNEYX MACHINERY United States Patent Ofiice3,228,368 SHZP STRUCTURE AND CONTROL MEANS THEREFOR Joseph D. Deal, Jr.,Nicholas E. Oresko, and John L. Stevens, In, Newport News, Va.,assignors to Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, NewportNews, Va., a corporation of Virginia Original application Dec. 24, 1963,Ser. No. 332,99. Divided and this application Dec. 21, E64, Ser. N0.

2 Claims. (Cl. 114.5)

The present invention relates to a new and novel ship structure andcontrol means therefor, and more particularly to a ship structureutilized in an underwater mining operation carried out at great depthsbeneath the surface of the sea.

The present application is a division of copending US. patentapplication Serial No. 332,999, filed December 24, 1963.

The present invention is especially adapted for use with apparatusemployed for the recovery of solid substances disposed at the bottom ofthe sea such as manganese nodules which are resting on the sea bottomand which are found in quantities sufiicient for commercial mining atdepths ranging generally from 400 feet to 12,000 feet or more beneaththe surface of the sea.

Apparatus employed for the mining of such substances according to thepresent invention includes a ship adapted to move along the surface ofthe sea, the ship being operatively connected with a suitable collectingmeans which moves along the sea bottom and collects the desired solidbodies.

It is contemplated that the ship employed for underwater mining will bea completely self-contained unit carrying all of the necessaryunderwater mining equipment thereon, and these mining operations willgenerally be carried out a considerable distance from shore on the highseas, and accordingly the ship and the mining equipment must be capableof operating under varying environmental factors such as the prevailingwinds, sea currents and sea conditions which occur at sea.

The basic combination of the present invention includes a ship adaptedto move through the water over a particular mining area of the seabottom which is connected by means of an elongated conduit means with acollecting means adapted to move along the sea bottom. The conduit meansis provided for transporting the collected solid bodies from thecollecting means up to the ship, and in addition the conduit means isadapted to tow the collecting means along the sea bottom in one form ofthe invention.

In order to perform the most economical mining operation, it isessential to maintain a substantially steady course of movement of thecollecting means through a particularly mining area. Especially in thecase where the collecting means is being towed, special attention mustbe given to current conditions at the mine site. In an area where tidalcurrents prevail, it will probably be necessary to set up a scheduledships heading to change course with each tide change making appropriateadjustments for wind and sea conditions to avoid zigzagging across themine field.

The ship is provided with means which provides a stable ship forsupporting the underwater mining equipment and which permits the ship tobe precisely controlled and accurately maneuvered into proper position.Since the mining operation or movement of the collecting means willnominally be at speeds less than 5 knots, a controllable reversiblepitch propeller is provided for obtaining the necessary control. Inorder to assure a reasonably steady ships heading, a bow thruster meansis installed in the bow portion of the ship to counter the effects ofwind and sea. In a typical example, the ship should be 3,228,358Patented Jan. 11, 1966 designed for a free route speed of about 14 knotsfor travel between port and the mine site with cargo and wing tanksballasted as required to maintain a draft of about 30 feet with theunderwater mining equipment stowed as illustrated in the drawings.Anti-roll tank means is also incorporated in the ship to minimize rolland to provide the maximum degree of stability.

The mining ship also is of a unique construction in that it includes acentral well portion which permits ready access to the sea for loweringlarge heavy components of the underwater mining equipment into the seaand for lifting such equipment from the sea, this well portion being sopositioned as to facilitate handling of the equipment on the ship andpositioning of the ship properly for lowering operations. The wellportion extends completely through the ship and opens in an upwarddirection as well as in a downward direction.

An object of the present invention is to provide a mining ship includingmeans which permits ready access to the sea for lowering large heavycomponents of the mining equipment into the sea and for lifting suchequipment out of the sea, and which is so positioned as to facilitatehandling of the equipment on the ship and positioning of the equipmentproperly for lowering operations.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a ship for use inunderwater mining operations including means which provides a stableship for supporting the underwater mining equipment, the ship beingcapable of being precisely controlled and accurately maneuvered into anydesired position for carrying out underwater mining operations.

Other objects and many attendant advantages of the invention will becomemore apparent when considered in connection with the specification andaccompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the mining ship structure according to thepresent invention; I

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 22 of FIG. 1looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 33 of FIG. 2looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 4-4 of FIG. 1looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 55 of FIG. 1looking in the direction of the arrows; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken substantially along line 66 of FIG. 5looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference charactersdesignate corresponding parts throughout the several views, FIG. 1illustrates the mining ship of the present invention, and as seen inthis figure, the ship is indicated generally by reference numeral 110.In a typical example, the ship may have an over-all length of about 625feet with a displacement at operating draft of about 32,000 tons. Theship includes a bow portion 111 and a stern portion 112, a bow thrustermechanism being indicated generally by reference numeral 113 anddisposed at the bow portion of the ship for providing accurate controlof the direction of movement of the ship. A controllable reversiblepitch propeller 114 is provided at the stern portion of the ship, and asteering rudder 115 is provided for steering the ship.

The ship is provided with a well portion indicated by reference numeral125, this well portion being disposed substantially midway betweenopposite side portions of the ship thereby providing a centrally locatedwell which opens upwardly and also opens downwardly into the sea and isopen completely through the ship so as to provide a means for readilylowering the mining equipment into operative mining position and whichalso enables the mining equipment to be lifted or retrieved back intothe ship when desired.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawing, the generalconfiguration of the well is illustrated. The well is substantiallyrectangular and includes a plurality of wall-s which define a centralwell area through which the various underwater mining components passduring lowering of equipment into mining position and raising theequipment from mining position. In addition, the various wall portionsinclude certain right angular bracket-like portions which define certaincutout areas which are adapted to receive an elevator mechanism mountedfor movement in the well.

An aft wall portion 1030 defines the aft part of the well area, and sidewall portions1032 and 1033 form a cutout area, these side wall portionstapering downwardly and outwardly from the top portions thereof adjacentthe deck which is illustrated by reference numeral 635. At the forwardside of the well portion, wall portions 1045, 1046, 1047, 1048 and 1049define the forward extent of the well area.

The wall portions 1062, 1063, 1064, 1065, 1066, 1067, 1068 and 1069cooperate with an elevator guide portion 1070 to define the starboardextent of the well area, and the wall portions 1072, 1073, 1074, 1075,1076, 1077, 1078 and 1079 cooperate with an elevator guide portion 1080to define the port extent of the well area.

The particular configuration as seen in FIG. 2 provides clearance forthe various underwater mining components as described in more detail inthe present patent application Serial No. 332,999, filed December 24,1963. At the same time, a relatively large central area is provided inthe well as seen in FIG. 2 through which components of large dimensionare adapted to be moved.

Referring now particularly to FIG. 4 of the drawing, a passage 475extends laterally from one side of the ship to the other, and opens atopposite sides of the ship. A controllable pitch propeller 476 issupported within the central portion of the passage and is operativelyconnected with suitable driving mechanism indicated at 477. Bycontrolling the pitch and therefore the direction and amount of thrustof the propeller 476, the heading of the bow of the ship can be veryaccurately controlled so as to enable proper maneuvering of the shipduring mining operations.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 6 of the drawing, stabilizing means in theform of anti-roll tank means includes a pair of anti-roll tanks 480 and481 disposed at opposite sides of the ship. A pair of passages 483 and484 extend athwartships and serve to interconnect the two anti-rolltanks. Liquid is disposed in the anti-roll tanks and in the connectingpassages, the tanks and passages being less than full such that liquidis adapted to move back and forth between the tanks through thepassages. Suitable control means is provided for controlling themovement of the liquid through these passages and this control means isindicated as selectively controllable gate means indicated by referencenumerals 486 and 487 whereby the amount of liquid flowing through theconnecting passages may be selectively adjusted. This over-allarrangement provides a very effective means for stabilizing the ship andfor maintaining the ship in the proper attitude for effective miningoperations.

It is apparent from the foregoing that there is provided according tothe present invention a new and novel mining ship including means in theform of a well which permits ready access to the sea for lowering largeheavy components of the mining equipment into the sea and for liftingsuch equipment back out of the sea, and which is so positioned as tofacilitate handling of the equipment on the ship and positioning of theequipment properly for lowering operations. Means is also provided whichaffords a stable ship for supporting the underwater mining equipment,the ship being capable of being precisely controlled and accuratelymaneuvered into any desired position for carrying out underwater miningoperations.

As this invention may be embodied in several forms without departingfrom the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, the presentembodiment is therefore illustrative and not restrictive, and since thescope of the invention is defined by the appended claims, all changesthat fall within the metes and bounds of the claims or that form theirfunctional as well as conjointly cooperative equivalents are thereforeintended to be embraced by those claims.

We claim:

1. Apparatus for use in underwater mining at great depths beneath thesurface of the sea comprising a ship adapted to move through the waterover a particular mining area, said ship having walls defining a wellsubstantially rectangular in cross section, disposed at a positionsubstantially symmetrical about the center line of the ship, said wellopening upwardly for receiving mining equipment from the deck of theship, said well also opening downwardly into the water, the upperportion of said well having right angular wall portions inwardly spacedfrom at least two opposed walls of said well defining supporting andreinforcing brackets, said brackets including portions extendinginwardly from the walls of the well and at right angles thereto, saidinwardly extending portions terminating in said right angular brackets,and said brackets being spaced from each other to form downwardlyextending pasageways, and a reversible and variable pitch propellerdrive means at the stern portion of said ship for accurately controllingthe speed thereof in a forward and reverse direction.

2. Apparatus for use in underwater mining at great depths beneath thesurface of the sea comprising a ship adapted to move through the waterover a particular mining area, said ship having walls defining a wellsubstantially rectangular in cross section, disposed at a positionsubstantially symmetrical about the center line of the ship, said wellopening upwardly for receiving mining equipment from the deck of theship, said well also opening downwardly into the water, the upperportion of said well having right angular wall portions inwardly spacedfrom at least two opposed walls of said well defining supporting andreinforcing brackets, said brackets including portions extendinginwardly from the walls of the well and at right angles thereto, saidinwardly extending portions terminating in said right angular brackets,and said brackets being spaced from each other to form downwardlyextending passageways, reversible and variable pitch propeller drivemeans at the stern portion of said ship for accurately controlling thespeed thereof in a forward and reverse direction, stabilizing meanscomprising spaced anti-roll tanks disposed at opposite side portions ofthe ship adjacent the deck thereof, laterally extending rectangularshaped passages each being substantially the height of the tanks andproviding communication between said spaced tanks, liquid disposed insaid spaced tanks and adapted to travel back and forth between saidspaced tanks through said passages, and means at each end of eachpassage for controlling the flow of liquid through said passages betweensaid spaced tanks.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,227,093 5/1917Terhaar ll4-148 2,077,143 4/1937 Carroll 114125 2,931,443 4/ 1960Pehrsson 11534 3,002,486 10/1961 Jardmo 1l4l43 3,010,214 11/1961Postlewaite 114-444 3,078,680 2/1963 Wepsala 114148 X 3,145,683 8/1964Kolb et al 114-144 3,160,135 12/1964 DeVries 114-125 MILTON BUCHLER,Primary Examiner. ANDREW H. FARRELL, Examiner.

1. APPARATUS FOR USE IN UNDERWATER MINING AT GREAT DEPTHS BENEATH THESURFACE OF THE SEA COMPRISING A SHIP ADAPTED TO MOVE THROUGH THE WATEROVER A PARTICULAR MINING AREA, SAID SHIP HAVING WALLS, DEFINING A WELLSUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR IN CROSS SECTION, DISPOSED AT A POSITIONSUBSTANTIALLY SYMMETRICAL ABOUT THE CENTER LINE OF THE SHIP, SAID WELLOPENING UPWARDLY FOR RECEIVING MINING EQUIPMENT FROM THE DECK OF THESHIP, SAID WELL ALSO OPENING DOWNWARDLY INTO THE WATER, THE UPPERPORTION OF SAID WELL HAVING RIGH ANGULAR WALL PORTIONS INWARDLY SPACEDFROM AT LEAST TWO OPPOSED WALLS OF SAID WELL DEFINING SUPPORTING ANDREINFORCING BRACKETS, SAID BRACKETS INCLUDING PORTIONS EXTENDINGINWARDLY FROM THE WALLS OF THE WELL AND AT RIGHT ANGLES THERETO, SAIDINWARDLY EXTENDING PORTIONS TERMINATING IN SAID RIGHT ANGULAR BRACKETS,AND SAID BRACKETS BEING SPACED FROM EACH OTHER TO FORM DOWNWARDLYEXTENDING PASSAGEWAYS, AND A REVERSIBLE AND VARIABLE PITCH PROPELLERDRIVE MEANS AT THE STERN PORTION OF SAID SHIP FOR ACCURATELY CONTROLLINGTHE SPEED THEREOF IN A FORWARD AND REVERSE DIRECTION.